Meanings
- An ancient Chinese fortification, almost 4,000 miles long, originally designed to protect China from the Mongols.
The Mongalls are a numerous people, and occupy a large extent of country, from this place to the Kallgan, which ſignines the everlaſting Wall, or the great wall of China.
1796, The Annual Register, or, a view of the History, Politicks, and Literature for the Year 1767, 5th edition, London: J. Dodsley, page 385 more examples
Of the Mongall Tartars. The Mongalls are a numerous people, and occupy a large extent of country, from this place to the Kallgan, which ſignifies the everlaſting Wall, or the great wall of China. From this wall they ſtretch themſelves northward as far as the river Amoor; and from the Amoor, weſtward, to the Baykail ſea ; where they border with the territories of the Kontayſha, or prince of the black Kalmucks. On the ſouth, they are bounded by a nation called Tonguts, among whom the Delay Lama has his residence.
1767, Annual register, or a view of the history and politics and literature for the year, page 38, column 2Near that same fortieth parallel of latitude on which our Asiatic journey was begun and ended, we now struck, at its extreme western limit, the Great Wall of China. The Kiayu-kuan, or "Jade Gate," by which it is here intersected, was originally so called from the fact that it led into the Khotan country, whence the Chinese traders brought back the precious mineral.
1894, Thomas Gaskell Allen, Jr.; William Lewis Sachtleben, “Over the Gobi Desert and through the Western Gate of the Great Wall”, in Across Asia on a Bicycle: The Journey of Two American Students from Constantinople to Peking, New York: The Century Co., →OCLC, pages 190-191Abramovic and Ulay lived like nomads for many years, traveling to exotic locations. After 12 years, the eccentric artists broke up. The marriage performance they'd planned, during which they were to run 2,500 kilometers towards each other along the Great Wall of China and then marry, turned into a break-up event.
2016 November 30, Nadine Wojcik, “Blood and pain: Extreme performance artist Marina Abramovic turns 70”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 01 Dec 2016, ArtsA northern section of the Great Wall of China collapsed after a period of heavy rain last month, with many blaming poor-quality renovations for the deterioration of the iconic landmark.
2018 August 2, Christina Zhao, “Great Wall of China Collapse: Poor Renovation Works And Heavy Rainfall Blamed”, in Newsweek, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2018Backhoes moved house by house, laying waste to a community called Xitai that was built in a plush green valley on the northern edge of Beijing, only a short walk from the Great Wall of China.
2020 August 7, Steven Lee Myers, Keith Bradsher, “Beijing Launches Another Demolition Drive, This Time in Its Bucolic Suburbs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Aug 2020, Asia Pacific
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
First used by Daniel Defoe on page 29 of his pamphlet The Advantages of peace and commerce: with some remarks on the East-India trade (1729); attested but not much in currency until the early 1900s, when it supplanted the Chinese wall (not to be confused with the later jargon term Chinese Wall), perhaps in response to or as part of exaggerated accounts of the wall's size and construction.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سُور اَلصِّين اَلْعَظِيم
- سُور اَلصِّين اَلْعَظِيم (sūr aṣ-ṣīn al-ʕaẓīm)Chinese fortification
Bulgarian Великата китайска стена
- Великата китайска стена (Velikata kitajska stena)Chinese fortification
Catalan Gran Muralla Xinesa
- Gran Muralla XinesaChinese fortification
Chinese Cantonese 萬里長城 /万里长城
- 萬里長城 /万里长城 (maan⁶ lei⁵ coeng⁴ sing⁴)Chinese fortification
Chinese Mandarin 長城 /长城, 萬里長城 /万里长城
- 長城 /长城 (Chángchéng)Chinese fortification
- 萬里長城 /万里长城 (Wànlǐ Chángchéng)Chinese fortification
Danish Den Kinesiske Mur
- Den Kinesiske MurChinese fortification
Dutch Chinese Muur
- Chinese MuurChinese fortification
Estonian Hiina müür
- Hiina müürChinese fortification
Finnish Kiinan muuri
- Kiinan muuriChinese fortification
French Grande Muraille, Grande Muraille de Chine
- Grande MurailleChinese fortification
- Grande Muraille de ChineChinese fortification
German Chinesische Mauer
- Chinesische MauerChinese fortification
Greek Μέγα Σινικό Τείχος
- Μέγα Σινικό Τείχος (Méga Sinikó Teíchos)Chinese fortification
Hindi चीन की महान दीवार, चीन की महाप्राचीर
- चीन की महान दीवार (cīn kī mahān dīvār)Chinese fortification
- चीन की महाप्राचीर (cīn kī mahāprācīr)Chinese fortification
Hungarian kínai nagy fal
- kínai nagy falChinese fortification
Indonesian Tembok Besar Tiongkok
- Tembok Besar TiongkokChinese fortification
Italian Grande muraglia cinese
- Grande muraglia cineseChinese fortification
Japanese 万里の長城
- 万里の長城 (Banri no Chōjō)Chinese fortification
Korean 만리장성
- 만리장성 (Mallijangseong)Chinese fortification
Norwegian Bokmål Den kinesiske mur
- Den kinesiske murChinese fortification
Polish Wielki Mur Chiński
- Wielki Mur ChińskiChinese fortification
Portuguese Muralha da China, Grande Muralha
- Muralha da ChinaChinese fortification
- Grande MuralhaChinese fortification
- Grande Muralha da ChinaChinese fortification
Romanian Marele Zid Chinezesc
- Marele Zid ChinezescChinese fortification
Russian Вели́кая Кита́йская стена́
- Вели́кая Кита́йская стена́ (Velíkaja Kitájskaja stená)Chinese fortification
Spanish Gran Muralla China
- Gran Muralla ChinaChinese fortification
Swahili Ukuta Mkubwa wa China, Ukuta wa China
- Ukuta Mkubwa wa ChinaChinese fortification
- Ukuta wa ChinaChinese fortification
Swedish kinesiska muren
- kinesiska murenChinese fortification
Tamil சீனப்பெருஞ்சுவர்
- சீனப்பெருஞ்சுவர் (cīṉapperuñcuvar)Chinese fortification
Thai กำแพงเมืองจีน
- กำแพงเมืองจีน (gam-pɛɛng mʉʉang-jiin)Chinese fortification
Turkish Çin Seddi
- Çin SeddiChinese fortification
Urdu چِین کِی عَظِیم دِیوَار, عَظِیم دِیوَارِ چِین
- چِین کِی عَظِیم دِیوَار (cīn kī 'azīm dīvār)Chinese fortification
- عَظِیم دِیوَارِ چِین ('azīm dīvār-i cīn)Chinese fortification
Vietnamese Vạn Lí Trường Thành, Vạn Lý Trường Thành
- Vạn Lí Trường ThànhChinese fortification
- Vạn Lý Trường ThànhChinese fortification
- Trường ThànhChinese fortification
Welsh Mur Mawr Tsieina
- Mur Mawr TsieinaChinese fortification
Cite this entry
Great Wall of China. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Wall%20of%20China
“Great Wall of China.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Wall%20of%20China. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Great Wall of China,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Wall%20of%20China.
Source: Great Wall of China on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.